1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for locking a tray in a disc drive, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for locking a tray to prevent the tray from being broken by an abnormal operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disc drives, such as a compact disc (CD) player, a digital versatile disc (DVD) player, and a CD/DVD-ROM (read only memory) drive, drive optical discs. A tray for a disc drive is a mechanism on which the optical disc is loaded. The tray is constructed to be movable into and out of the disc drive in a straight line due to a rotation of a loading motor included in the disc drive.
If a tray opening command is input, the tray is moved out of the disc drive, and if a tray closure command is input, the tray is moved into the disc drive. The tray opening and closure commands may be input using a button on a front panel of the disc drive or a button on a remote controller to remotely control the disc drive, or by directly pressing a front panel of the tray.
In a case where the tray is moved into or out of the disc drive by directly pressing the front panel of the tray, the tray may be broken by carelessness of a user. That is, in a case where the user, who lacks knowledge about the tray, presses the front panel of the tray carelessly, the tray is opened such that the possibility exists that the tray may break. Further, in a case where a user, who lacks experience at handling the disc drive, opens the tray by needlessly pressing an opening button of the tray, the possibility exists for the tray to break. For example, in a case where the tray is opened by a child and the child presses down on the tray or places a foreign object on the tray, the possibility exists for the tray to break.